Microsoft Releases OneNote Mobile For iPhone

OneNote Mobile for the iPhone lets you capture and review notes and lists on your phone. Notes are automatically backed up and synced with free Windows Live SkyDriveonline storage, so that you can access them from virtually anywhere - your PC, phone, and browser. Collecting thoughts and ideas on the go is what OneNote was made for.

And its free only for limited time. So grab it soon.

http://bit.ly/gtaiTd

Tweet search - one code, three mobile platforms (wp7, monodroid, monotouch) (via Sigurd Snørteland)

Interesting article..

Here is the presentation and the source code from the speech I held at the Norwegian .Net User Group last wednesday. tweet search 'tweet search' is a mobile twitter search app written in c# for Windows Phone 7, iPhone and Android. All three apps share the same twitter search code, but they have custom gui code (WP7=Silverlight, iPhone=MonoTouch, Android=MonoDroid). Go to the bottom off this article to find links to the source code & presentat … Read More

via Sigurd Snørteland

What WP7 Devices lacks from?

In reading a review of Windows Phone 7 or the comments attached to them it is quite common to run accross a list of features which Windows Phone 7 lack, and which means the OS is doomed to fail.

I have therefore decided to commented on each item in this pretty standard list  to address these perceived "shortcomings".

No System-wide File Manager

- A System-wide File Manager is needed only when you want to deal with different type of File types organised in folders. WP7 has Documents, Albums which supports Folders which is more than enough for a mobile device.  Also you have Skydrive integration which has few file managing options.

No Video Calling

-Video Calling is a option for OEM’s in WP7. They can  choose it for their device if they want.

No Smart Dialling

-Smart Dialling allows you to call your fav.contacts easily. WP7 has various other ways to do the same task, for example you can pin your fav.contact in the start screen or you can use WP7’s speech recognition feature.

Limited third-party apps

- Its not fair to expect or compare a new platform with other established platforms .A new platform with 2000 quality apps is a very good number. Quality is more important than quantity.

No USB mass storage mode/No Bluetooth file transfers

-Piracy and Security is the main reason of not enabling this feature. It protects you from various problems. Want to share a file to your friend? Use Skydrive. Zune Client is good for file transfer between phone and PC.

No memory card support

-Using Memory card to store images is inferior when compared to storing it in your personal cloud like Skydrive, Facebook, etc,.

No multitasking

-True Multitasking drains phone’s battery life which is the main reason Microsoft planned not to implement it in the first release. And Microsoft knows multitasking better than its competitors because their previous mobile OS Windows Mobile had it. Current version of WP7 supports multitasking by tombstoning. Also applications such as Zune,Browser support multitasking.

No copy paste

-WP7 doesn't have copy paste. But it provides Smart Sensing to detect phone numbers,Address in a website,etc,.But its on the way through next update as confirmed by Joe Belfiore. Also Microsoft is evaluating Tuck&Paste concept which may arrive in future updates.

Too dependent on Zune software for computer file management and syncing

-Zune is the desktop client for WP7 and its very simple,intuitive to use. If you don't like it then use Windows Live Skydrive.

No music player equalisers

-WP7 doesn't have out of the box equaliser for avid music fans. But some WP7 devices such as from HTC has more than Music equalisers. They have Sound Enhancer app that shall deliver equalizer sound effects for a richer listening and viewing experience. Also, equalizer presets automatically mix bass, treble and vocal levels for maximum effect, whatever your type of music.

No Flash or Silverlight support in the web browser

-Yes,Its not supported as of now. But it wont be forever as in the case of iPhone. Microsoft is open to support Adobe Flash in its platform(Rumour: Adobe is going to release beta version of Flash for WP7 before this year). Silverlight support in browser is on the way.

No sign of free Bing maps Navigation so far

-Bing Maps provides navigation from Point A to Point B. But the turn-by-turn voice guided navigation is not available. But carrier's and  OEM’s can have their own navigation systems on their WP7 devices. For example Orange has its own navigation service built into the WP7 devices.

No DivX/XviD video support

- Its listed in MSDN support website that Windows Phone 7 has DivX/Xvid support. We have posted about it here already.

I’ve commented on these features based on my knowledge. if you have better comments or if you dont agree with the comments, Let us know in the comments section.

Watch Windows Phone 7 Launch Keynote

Windows Phone 7 Devices Video Overview

Windows Phone 7 Marketplace to Start Accepting Applications From Oct-11

October 4, 2010 Request Early Access to Submit your Windows Phone 7 App On October 11th you and other developers will see a brand new Marketplace developer portal experience that makes it easier to distribute and manage your apps and games. The new portal streamlines application submission and certification; brings together all the resources you need to develop great apps and games for Windows Phone 7; and lets you manage apps you may have created for earlier versions of Windows Phone. The new portal will also be refreshed more frequently to provide you with new resources and updates on a regular basis. Since this is an all-new portal experience we will initially enable early access to a couple thousand developers to submit Windows Phone 7 apps starting on October 11. If your Windows Phone 7 app or game is ready and you'd like to be among the first to go through certification, please tell us by sending an email to myxapnow@Microsoft.com by Twelve Noon, PDT, October 6th, 2010. All requests will be evaluated on a first come, first serve basis. From these requests an initial group of developers will be provided access and guidance on submitting their apps through the new certification process. After the first wave of app submissions we will gradually ramp-up access to additional developers on a weekly basis. Here are a few important details. Your request for early access must come from the email address that received this newsletter; we will only accept requests from registered Marketplace developers Your request must include the title of your app and a description of approximately 75 words Requests that do not meet the October 6th deadline will not make the first wave of early access slots but will be evaluated for later waves in the order in which they were received Optionally, please consider providing a screenshot or link to a video or blog description of your app to assist us in prioritizing the early access program Be sure to check out Todd Brix's post to the Windows Phone Developer Blog later this morning, but important dates to remember are: Today: As a registered Marketplace developer, you are now invited to request early certification access by emailing myxapnow@microsoft.com by Noon, October 6, PDT. Oct 11: The first wave of developers accepted for early certification access will receive instructions on how to submit their xap to the new Marketplace portal. Oct 12-November: Microsoft will expand access to the early app submission process every week until the self-serve submission process is broadly enabled. With more than half a million downloads of the Windows Phone Developer tools, we know we'll see amazing games and apps for customers this holiday season. We look forward to seeing yours early! Final Windows Phone Developer Tools Available Now You may already know, but the final developer tools for Windows® Phone 7 have been available here since late August. You will need to use these final tools, not the beta tool set, when building an app to submit to Marketplace. Make sure you take the following steps to get your games and apps prepped for launch: Download the final Windows Phone Developer Tools from the portal today Compile your app or game using the final tools Have your XAP ready for submission to the Marketplace when it opens Register for Tech-Ed Europe 2010 Tech-Ed Europe returns to Berlin November 8-12 2010, with more than 25 Windows Phone related sessions and labs. These range from introductions to the Windows Phone 7 and Marketplace teams to deep-dives on Silverlight and XNA development for Windows Phone 7. Check out all the Windows Phone sessions by clicking here and selecting the Windows Phone track from the search list. The registration price for Tech-Ed also includes a one-year subscription to TechNet which includes access to the complete stack of full-version Microsoft infrastructure and business solution software. Windows Phone 7 at PDC 2010, October 28 and 29 Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference, PDC 2010, will include sessions on building and selling apps for Windows Phone 7. PDC 2010 has already sold out but you can join the event live on October 28 and 29 at the PDC site. You can also join the PDC email list to get a preview of what's planned for PDC, as well as stay abreast of local PDC events. Visual Basic Comes to Windows Phone 7 You can now download the Visual Basic CTP for Windows Phone Developer Tools. Provided in this download are all the templates, designer support, emulator (and phone!) support and IntelliSense for Visual Basic. A few important caveats: CTP stands for Community Technology Preview, which means we want to give you early access, and are hoping to solicit feedback, but this is not a final implementation. There is no Go-Live license, which means you shouldn't try to release apps built with this version of the technology. You need to be a Visual Studio 2010 Professional (or higher) customer. So if you only have the Express edition of the Windows Phone Developer Tools, you cannot use this version of the CTP. I hear Visual Studio 2010 have a trial download if you are really itchy. You cannot build XNA games. Silverlight apps only. In This Issue > Request Early App Submission Access for Windows Phone 7 > Final Windows Phone Developer Tools Available > Tech-Ed Europe Returns to Berlin Nov 8-12 > PDC 2010 Online > Visual Basic CTP for Windows Phone 7 Questions? Contact Support Follow Us on Twitter! Get to know the people on the Windows Phone team by following them on Twitter: @ckindel @mklucher @cschormann @shawnhargreaves @brandonwatson Microsoft respects your privacy. Please read our online Privacy Statement. Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 USA Update Profile

The above is the mail sent to all the registered developers.

Windows Phone Ads Leaked Should be Real

Two days before,Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 ads featuring HTC Mondrian with AT&T leaked around the Internet. The video was first uploaded by a company which made music for that ad in Vimeo. WMPoweruser.com first broke the story to Internet. From there on the videos spread like wildfire. Top technology blog sites like Engadget, TechCrunch, Cnet, Neowin, etc wrote on it.   The videos had about 200,000 views each and generally had positive reviews. Now YouTube has removed those videos claiming copyrights issue from Microsoft Corporation. So this move obviously confirms that ads were real. People who haven't seen the ads still can view it in hundreds of YouTube account and some sites like Engadget that hosts the ads on their own server.